History Theatre / TheMikado

* HypocriticalHumour: More than one rewrite of "If Someday It May Happen" (wherein Ko-Ko lists people he feels should be executed) includes "All people who write different words to Mr. Gilbert's songs!"

** The Mikado and Katisha are a bass and a contralto, respectively, as an auditory cue that they are stiring up trouble.

* {{Flanderization}}: When the Mikado was originally played by Richard Temple in 1885 he was a slightly sinister "suave and oily" reserved monarch with just the very lightest touch of the manical in the background. By the end of the 1920s, however, Darrell Fancourt had turned him into a maniacal tyrant complete with a flamboyant evil laugh. G and S fans are divided as to which was the better approach.

* GrandeDame: Katisha, whose not only a little bit bloodthirsty but during "Mi-ya Sa-ma" her every verse interrupts the Mikado's boasting "As tough as a bone/With a will of her own/Is his daughter-in-law elect!" She would clearly henpeck any husband who would marry her, whether that be Nanki-Poo or Ko-Ko.

2: ''Or stains her gray hair puce/Is made to wear feathers/In all the worst weathers/And legibily labeled "goose".''\\

* BlueBlood:
-->'''Pooh-Bah:''' I am, in point of fact, a particularly haughty and exclusive person, of pre-Adamite ancestral descent. You will understand this when I tell you that I can trace my ancestry back to a protoplasmic primordial atomic globule.
* BoringReligiousService:

In a quite fictionalized version of Japan, Nanki-Poo, the son of the Mikado (the Emperor), wanders the streets as a WanderingMinstrel. Meanwhile, in an attempt to stem the tide of executions for flirting, a hapless tailor named Ko-Ko has been saved from the chopping block and appointed Lord High Executioner. (He was next in line to be executed, and it was reasoned that this would give him the incentive to forbear exercising his office.) Instructed to execute ''somebody'' before the Mikado returns, Ko-Ko happens upon Nanki-Poo, who is in love with the maiden Yum-Yum, and contemplating suicide because she's due to marry Ko-Ko himself. Seeing an opportunity, Ko-Ko decides to help Nanki-Poo have his death wish and to be with Yum-Yum. HilarityEnsues.

* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: It should go without saying that basically none of the characters has actual Japanese names.

-->'''Ko-Ko:''' When Your Majesty says "Let a thing be done", it’s as good as done, practically it '''is''' done, because Your Majesty’s will is law. Your Majesty says "Kill a gentleman", and the gentleman is to be killed, consequently that gentleman is as good as dead, practically he '''is''' dead, and if he is dead, why not say so?\\

* EveryManHasHisPrice: Pooh-Bah would be ''insulted'' if you offered him a bribe, and ''mortified'' at the prospect of working for a salary. However, as a man of high moral principles, he is grateful for every such opportunity to practice self-abasement.

In a quite fictionalized version of Japan, Nanki-Poo, the son of the Mikado (the Emperor), wanders the streets as a WanderingMinstrel. Meanwhile, in an attempt to stem the tide of executions for flirting, a hapless tailor named Ko-Ko has been saved from the chopping block and appointed Lord High Executioner. (He was next in line to be executed, and it was reasoned that this would give him the incentive to forbear exercising his office.) Instructed to execute ''somebody'' before The Mikado returns, Ko-Ko happens upon Nanki-Poo, who is in love with the maiden Yum-Yum, and contemplating suicide because she's due to marry Ko-Ko himself. Seeing an opportunity, Ko-Ko decides to help Nanki-Poo have his death wish and to be with Yum-Yum. HilarityEnsues.

*** These names are redolent of Victorian nursery slang, as in Little Bo Peep and 'pretty thing'. Elsewhere in the operetta, 'Poo-Bah' derives from 'poo-bear' (as in the later 'Winnie the Poo') and 'dickie-bird' for 'little bird'.

* ActuallyPrettyFunny: Prince Komatsu Akihito, who saw an 1886 production in London, took no offence at all, nor did he find its depiction of the Mikado demeaning. The 1907 revival was cancelled for six weeks due to a state visit by Prince Fushimi Sadanaru, but it backfired spectacularly when the prince expressed a desire to see the show. A command performance was put together and both the prince and his entourage found it hilarious.

* PairTheSpares: Played with. The hero and heroine each start off facing an incipient ArrangedMarriage before meeting and falling in love. Rather than the two left-over parties to the arranged marriages just happening to hook up, the hero and heroine actively orchestrate it so that neither will be able to insist on the arrangement going ahead as planned.

* TheCaligula: The Mikado is often played this way, especially during his solo about torturing prisoners as "harmless merriment."

* ChristmasCake: Katisha, a very old maid, pines for Nanki-Poo and for the title of "Daughter-in-Law Elect of the Mikado", and eventually Queen. From her behavior in the second act, it is clear that she would pattern her reign after the Queen of Hearts from ''[[Literature/AlicesAdventuresInWonderland Alice in Wonderland]]'' ("[[OffWithHisHead off with their heads]]!"), so the inhabitants of Titipu could heave a sigh of relief that she didn't get her wish.

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* [[IAmSong "I Am" Song]]: "If you want to know who we are" (The people of Titipu), "A wandering minstrel, I" (Nanki-Poo), "Behold the Lord High Executioner" (Ko-Ko), "Comes a train of little ladies" (The school girls), "Three little maids from school" (Yum-Yum, Pitti-Sing & Peep-Bo) and "Miya Sama" (The Mikado & Katisha). Yes, six of them, quite possibly a record.

* BlueBlood

* RebelPrince: Nanki-Poo rejects life at the royal court in favor of wandering around disguised as a minstrel because he can't stand the advances of a certain bloodthirsty woman from the court

In a quite fictionalized version of Japan, Nanki-Poo, the son of the Mikado (the Emperor), wanders the streets as a WanderingMinstrel. Meanwhile, in an attempt to stem the tide of executions for flirting, a hapless tailor named Ko-Ko has been saved from the chopping block and appointed Lord High Executioner. (He was next in line to be executed, and it was reasoned that this would give him incentive to forbear exercising his office.) Instructed to execute ''somebody'' before The Mikado returns, Ko-Ko happens upon Nanki-Poo, who is in love with the maiden Yum-Yum, and contemplating suicide because she's due to marry Ko-Ko himself. Seeing an opportunity, Ko-Ko decides to help Nanki-Poo have his death wish and to be with Yum-Yum. HilarityEnsues.

* ActuallyPrettyFunny: The 1907 revival was cancelled for six weeks due to a state visit by Prince Fushimi Sadanaru. It backfired spectacularly when the prince expressed a desire to see the show. A command performance was put together and both the prince and his entourage found it hilarious.

* AffablyEvil: The Mikado, who is completely understanding about the accidental execution of his son, describing the execution of the killers in boiling oil as a regrettable but unavoidable legal requirement.

* AsLongAsItSoundsForeign: It should go without saying that basically none of the characters have actual Japanese names.
** Even the name of the play is sort of an example of this. The word ''mikado'' is presented as meaning "emperor". In fact it means the general authority of the Emperor, a bit like how the British Prime Minister's office and staff are referred to as "Downing Street". It is not a title given to a person.
* BeautyEqualsGoodness: Yum Yum: Beautiful=Good, Katisha: Ugly=Evil. However this trope is lampshaded and parodied as well. Yum Yum asks herself why she's the most beautiful woman in the whole world in one scene ("Can this be vanity? No!"). As for Katisha, although she is genuinely bloodthirsty and cruel, her loneliness makes her sympathetic ("Hearts do not break, they sting and ache...").

** The normal bowderization for "My Object All Sublime" is "painted with vigor/With permanent walnut juice". However, Martyn Green reports that Sir Alan P. Herbert suggested a few other rewrites:

%%* {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: Pooh Bah.

* GrandeDame: Katisha, whose not only a little bit bloodthirsty, but during "Mi-ya Sa-ma" her every verse interrupts the Mikado's boasting "As tough as a bone/With a will of her own/Is his daughter-in-law elect!" She would clearly henpeck any husband who would marry her, whether that be Nanki-Poo or Ko-Ko.

* ThePiratesWhoDontDoAnything: Ko-Ko is the Lord High Executioner, but never executes anybody. Nor do we ever see Pooh Bah performing any of his various capacities.

* TheThemeParkVersion: Of Japanese culture. There was an "oriental" craze in Britain at the time the musical was written and the artificiality is occasionally drawn attention to. One character is mentioned having gone to Knightsbridge which is in Britain, not Japan, and at the time was host to an actual theme park based on Japan. Even the opening chorus cheerfully acknowledges that it is not intended to be realistic but is drawn from what can be seen "On many a vase and jar / On many a screen and fan."

* ThisIsReality: After Ko-Ko, Pooh-Bah, and Pitti-Sing are convicted of inadvertantly doing away with the heir to the throne, the Mikado remarks that he's sorry for them, but this is an unjust world and virtue is triumphant only in theatrical performances.

* {{Yellowface}}: Part of the originally intended joke is the performers - despite being in yellowface - are actually examples of stupid ''British'' aristocrats. At the time there was a huge craze for Japan culture in Britain so having the characters be Japanese was a bit of satire. Since the joke is no longer relevant and yellowface [[ValuesDissonance much less acceptable]] directors have chosen to go in different directions.

** Another that is [[https://www.honolulumagazine.com/the-mikado-has-arrived/ gaining a bit of currency]] is to portray everyone as {{Anime}} characters, which preserves the intended satire on Western fascination with TheThemeParkVersion of Japanese culture.

** Even the name of the play is sort of an example of this. The word ''mikado'' is presented as meaning "emperor". In fact it means the general authority of the Emperor, a bit like how the British civil government is referred to as "Downing Street". It is not a title given to a person.

-->'''Pooh-Bah:''' I am, in point of fact, a particularly haughty and exclusive person, of pre-Adamite ancestral descent. You will understand this when I tell you that [[UpToEleven I can trace my ancestry back to a protoplasmic primordial atomic globule.]]

* TranslationYes: In the children's book version of the story adapted by Gilbert, he explains that Yum-Yum's name supposedly translates as, [[NameThatUnfoldsLikeLotusBlossom "The full moon of delight which sheds her remarkable beams over a sea of infinite loveliness, thus indicating a glittering path by which she may be approached by those who are willing to brave the perils which necessarily await the daring adventurers who seek to reach her by those means."]] He goes on to explain that the Japanese language is remarkably compact.[[note]]While he is [[TruthInTelevision quite correct about this]], it's not quite ''[[UpToEleven that]]'' compact.[[/note]]

%%%* GrandeDame: Katisha.

** Played straight in the 1966 film adaptation, where Pish-Tush and Peep-Bo spend the finale gazing into each other's eyes while he gracefully waves his fan over her head.

In a quite fictionalized version of Japan, Nanki-Poo, the son of the Mikado (the Emperor), wanders the streets as a WanderingMinstrel. Meanwhile, in an attempt to stem the tide of executions for flirting, a hapless tailor named Ko-Ko has been saved from the chopping block and appointed Lord High Executioner. (He was next in line to be executed, and it was reasoned that this would give him incentive to forebear exercising his office.) Instructed to execute ''somebody'' before The Mikado returns, Ko-Ko happens upon Nanki-Poo, who is in love with the maiden Yum-Yum, and contemplating suicide because she's due to marry Ko-Ko himself. Seeing an opportunity, Ko-Ko decides to help Nanki-Poo have his death wish and to be with Yum-Yum. HilarityEnsues.

In a quite fictionalized version of Japan, Nanki-Poo, the son of the Mikado (the Emperor), wanders the streets as a WanderingMinstrel. Meanwhile, a hapless tailor named Ko-Ko has been saved from the chopping block and appointed High Executioner. Instructed to execute ''somebody'' before The Mikado returns, Ko-Ko happens upon Nanki-Poo, who is in love with the maiden Yum-Yum, and contemplating suicide because she's due to marry Ko-Ko himself. Seeing an opportunity, Ko-Ko decides to help Nanki-Poo have his death wish and to be with Yum-Yum. HilarityEnsues.

** Just about all of the names, of course. That's part of their purpose

** Another that is [[http://www.frolichawaii.com/stories/the-mikado-has-arrived/ gaining a bit of currency]] is to portray everyone as {{Anime}} characters, which preserves the intended satire on Western fascination with TheThemeParkVersion of Japanese culture.